More Than A Love Song
by Masked-Writer-In-Disguise
Summary: AU. Sequel to A Beginning. 'Sai's sudden need to confess everything about his life was suddenly interrupted by Sasuke's finger on his lips."I don't care. You're still Sai, and I really, really like Sai." ..."Really?" ..."Really."'


_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**__ Well, here's a little bit of Sasuke and Sai, a sequel to __A Beginning__ because I reread it and saw that I gave hints of them having sex in a shower after gym and I realized I couldn't really leave it hanging… Well, I'm probably not going to have them having sex in a shower, but I always come to this pairing fresh out of Writers' Block, so… Tah-dah! –flashing lights and fireworks-_

_And this'n's a little more angsty than the other one, but Sai kinda deserves to be angsty in this one… I'm so mean to these guys –sigh-…_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own them, but it would be fun to… the series would definitely be different and rated MA…_

_**Inspiration:**__ Celebration of coming out of Writers' Block! Do I need anything else? And… actually it was influenced by the playlist I was listening to on Pandora, the main theme being Hero by Superchic[k]and More Than A Love Song by Fireflight. They really fits this._

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_More Than A Love Song_

_By: Masked-Writer-In-Disguise_

Sai clung tightly to Sasuke's hand and bit his lip, quite honestly terrified that he'd lose the only partner he'd ever had that gave a shit about him. He felt as though the world had just fallen out from under his feet yet again; it had this horrible habit of fucking with Sai's life. People were always giving the artist shit about being who he was; a shamelessly gay guy who was ridiculously proud of his stomach and was clearly obsessed with the male genitalia and physical form. People always dropped him out in the cold, naked _(figuratively speaking… except that had actually happened once)_, but Sasuke didn't care about that shit. Sasuke liked Sai in all his irregular sleeping patterns, penis obsessed, artistic, somewhat slutty, tactless glory… but Sakura liked Sasuke and Sai threatened everything she'd been working for since kindergarten.

Sakura was obsessed with Sasuke and didn't like that he was clearly in a very sexually active relationship with a male, _Sai_ to top it all off-she hated Sai and made sure he knew it-and Sakura just had to go and dig up everything bad that had happened to him and post it as front page news in the school paper. What had Sai ever done to her? He tried to be nice and keep his mouth shut and keep from calling her a lot of very bad names, but she still did this to him at every turn. Insults while they went to the movies or hung out at the arcade in front of their usual group of friends were fine, but having his entire shitty life printed out for the entire student body was taking too far. Sai couldn't deal with it.

The artist started to tremble slightly as Sasuke pulled the paper closer to himself for easier access. Burning green eyes were focused on him smugly, hatefully; Sai could feel Sakura staring at him as his gaze darted over the paper in front of him frantically.

'…_alcoholic single mother… given up for adoption… put in the system… older brother killed, only suspect… went willingly into prostitution… let his foster father have sexual intercourse with him…exhibitionist… drug addiction problems… illegal pornography…'_

Sai felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes as he dropped the piece of shit excuse for a newspaper to the floor and released Sasuke's hand, bowling over teachers and students alike in his haste to escape, to get away from Sakura's smug smirk and the extremely obvious sidelong glances from the rest of the student body. He would honestly understand if Sasuke dropped him. After reading that, he'd drop himself too. He felt dirty, worthless; sick. The school front doors opened and he bent over the rail and emptied his breakfast onto the lawn.

Fuck this, he thought, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand… and he ran; ran away from Sakura and the memories and Sasuke and Naruto and all of the accusing eyes. He went to the waterfront, to the break wall and sat out behind the lighthouse, feeling the waves' mist float over him as they crashed down. How could he have possibly thought this school would be any different than the others he'd been to? Everyone was the same… maybe he really was just a piece of shit waste of oxygen and space. Had Danzou really had it right when he'd taken Sai in and treated him like that? The teen inhaled and rested his head back against the lighthouse behind him, eyes closed, trying to get all the thoughts out of his head. That's why he was in therapy; his foster dad said he was suicidal, but Sai'd never once entertained the thought of actually killing himself, but he would admit to being depressed. At least he knew that feeling.

After several hours of sitting and calming down, Sai stood up, slightly damp, and walked quietly back to town, his feet treading a very familiar path to his favorite coffee house; the place he and Sasuke had had their first official date, the movie theatre not counting as an actual date. He took his spot at his favorite table and several minutes after he sat down, the cashier came over with his usual order. Sai smiled thankfully, sadly, and got out his wallet, handed over the necessary amount and took a sip of the Double Hazelnut coffee, two sugars, letting the flavor of his favorite drink wash over him, feeling a lot calmer than when he'd run out of school…

Shit, Tenzou was going to kill him for skipping, but Sai felt he really didn't give a shit. His life had taken a turn he didn't quite know how to deal with. One day was actually very small compared to other times he'd been forced to skip… He'd rather not go down memory lane right now. He knew he was fucked up, why did that bitch of a school paper editor need to bring it to the forefront of everybody's thoughts? Because she was a fucking jealous cunt, that's why. She and other jealous women like her were the reason he hated women.

Sai slowly sipped on his one drink, not really caring how much time had passed or that said drink was getting cold; he was almost completely lost in his slightly morbid and depressing thoughts, really only faintly aware of the goings-on of the coffee shop around him. He finally decided he needed to check the time. When he glanced up at the clock, it was well after school was let out, but Sai really didn't feel like going home just yet. The coffee was long gone, the cup far from being the warm inviting object it had seemed originally, but Sai still held onto his cup, running his right index finger along the rim, staring off into space. Somebody came and pulled out the chair across from him, but the artist still didn't look up. It wasn't until a stack of photocopied notes covered in Sasuke and Naruto's handwriting slid themselves over to him that he decided to grace the other person with his blank gaze. It was Sasuke.

"She had no right," the younger teen bit out right off the bat, anger directed at a certain pink haired female simmering in his eyes and evident in his voice, "no fucking right."

"Do you hate me?" Sai whispered. Yeah, he was insecure, but everything he'd been through would either point to his insecurities or his need for attention and physical touch.

"No, and if you'd stayed a little bit longer, you'd've heard me and Naruto humiliate her in front of the rest of the student body," Sasuke smirked at the memory before he smiled gently and reached over the table to take one of Sai's hands, dragging it towards the raven's lips, pressing a gentle kiss to slender fingers. "We don't hate you; we never did and never will. Ignore them; we'll beat 'em up for you, m'kay?"

There was some silence, broken only by the usual sounds of a coffee shop and café; laughter from a group of teenage girls, the gentle hum of conversation, the sound of flipping pages, clicking of electronic mice from the computers along the wall, grinding of the coffee beans, humming coffee machines. It stretched on until it almost became unbearable for the artist. Was Sasuke judging him? Thinking about dumping him even though he'd said he didn't hate the older teen? Just going to stand up and leave Sai to his thoughts? He really wanted to keep Sasuke around, so Sai whispered, "I didn't let him…"

"What?"

"I didn't let my foster father have sex with me. He raped me in front of his own son and a bunch of other people whenever he felt like it, and that's the reason I'm with Tenzou and not where I used to be. Tenzou's nice to me… and I really didn't have a choice about the prostitution. I had to eat because my old foster father didn't feed me, and my brother was murdered shortly after hiding me in a closet so I was the only one on the scene at the time and the drugs-" Sai's sudden need to confess everything about his life was suddenly interrupted by Sasuke's finger on his lips.

"I don't care. You're still Sai, and I really, really like Sai." Sasuke was smirking in a fond kind of way, sincerity stamped in red across his face and in his eyes.

Sai's tongue darted out and lapped at Sasuke's fingertip, successfully freeing his mouth. "Really?"

"Really."

"Can I keep you, then?"

"I wasn't planning on leaving."

The artist sat the mug down on the table top and absently began picking at the chipping nail polish on his fingernails, glancing up at Sasuke through lowered lashes. "Am I still your boyfriend?"

"I wasn't aware that would even be a problem. I think you asked that one already…"

Sai smiled. Sasuke really didn't hate him; that was good, brilliant, wonderful. He no longer felt quite as worthless as he had that morning, but he still felt dirty. He'd always feel dirty… he wanted a shower and an evening spent curled up on his couch wrapped in a blanket with a good book or movie, a bucket of ice-cream and a mug of hot cocoa. He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes again and he glanced up at Sasuke.

"You wanna leave?" the younger teen beat Sai to it.

"Yeah."

"My place or yours?"

"It'd better be mine. Tenzou's gonna be angry enough I skipped…" Sai pushed himself up, leaving his mug on the table and waited for Sasuke to do the same. The raven linked his fingers with Sai's and glued himself to Sai's side and they walked out the door together. The giddy feeling Sai had at the unabashed contact fled as soon as the words he'd run to escape hit his ears.

"You're really letting that slut touch you? He could be contaminated with-" and what Sai could be contaminated with wouldn't be known for a couple of minutes as Kiba casually stepped extremely hard on the stupid jock's foot as he passed, his dog happily following his master's example and bowling the big teen over. The brunette waved nonchalantly and continued walking, Sai and Sasuke nodding and fighting back grins and laughter, doing the same.

"Kiba and the rest weren't too happy with her either," Sasuke smirked. "Sakura really has no clue who she's dealing with…"

The two teens walked in silence side by side, Sai's head sometimes bending down to touch Sasuke's either with his temple or with his lips, until they were standing on Sai's front porch. Then they separated slightly, and Sai pushed open the door, not really looking forward to Tenzou's glare. They walked into the kitchen, and sure enough, Tenzou was waiting, but before he could start a lecture Sasuke pulled the school paper out of his bag and dropped it in front of the irate man.

"He needed to cool off."

Tenzou's eyes skimmed over the page before looking up at Sai with understanding. Sai knew he was paler than usual, but he didn't care. He just wanted a shower and some snuggle time with Sasuke. A few minutes later, he got just that; he even got a shower with Sasuke. The warm water running off his body, Sasuke's hands skimming over his chest and hips and thighs, kisses, Sai's hands running across Sasuke's body and coming to rest on the small of his back and tangled in his hair, Sasuke's moaning…

And Sai felt good, happy. This was right. Sasuke cared about him, loved him; he didn't care about what Sakura said or what had happened in the past, how many people had used him and dropped him and broken him and abused him. He was just Sai, and Sai needed to be loved, cared for; needed Sasuke. Their make-out session made its way out the door and down the hall to Sai's bedroom where it collapsed on the bed, Sai underneath Sasuke, still attached at the lips. But that's as far as it went because Sai didn't need sex right now and Sasuke knew that.

The kiss very slowly broke apart, going from heated, all tongue and heavy petting, to gentle, calm, loving to a simple playful peck to close it off and Sasuke nuzzled contentedly against Sai's neck. They were both still naked, but Sai loved it and not just because he could look at Sasuke, but because he could run his fingers over his body and feel everything; smooth skin, every dip and curve, the slight scarring on his back from an abusive uncle, firm muscles.

They laid there for a long time, not really bothering to go get their clothes from the bathroom, just enjoying being touched and held. Tenzou came in after a while with two sets of clothes folded neatly and set them on the desk, left, and came back again with two mugs of cocoa. Sasuke and Sai parted long enough to empty the mugs, for Sasuke to text his brother and let him know he was staying at Sai's for the night; then they got comfortable again.

Sai knew tomorrow was going to be hell, Sakura would see to it, but Sasuke didn't hate him, Naruto didn't hate him, so maybe he'd be able to make it through the glares and derogatory names and the threats of beatings and the propositions from random, faceless people. Maybe he'd be able to handle it and keep friends and stay here in a home where he was safe and happy and taken care of. He pulled Sasuke closer and kissed the only part of a pale forehead he could reach, silently thanking his boyfriend for not judging him. Sasuke ran hands up and down Sai's slender waist a couple of times and 'hmmm'ed contentedly, making himself even more comfortable.

After a while Sai whispered, "Sasuke, we need to move. I'm getting stiff."

Sasuke snorted, but did no such thing. He was perfectly happy where he was and Sai would just have to deal with it for a little while longer. Tenzou was sure to have dinner ready soon.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**__ Well, it has a kinda happy, fluffy ending. I just love it when these two get fluffy with each other. They deserve it… even if it did make my teeth rot just a little bit…_


End file.
